


Guard My Heart

by MoonlitPaladin (MoonlitStardust)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bodyguard AU, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, VLD Ship Positivity Week, shance, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 18:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10724496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitStardust/pseuds/MoonlitPaladin
Summary: Shiro's charge never lets him have an easy day of work.





	Guard My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> VLD Ship Positivity Week - April 24, 2017 (Protection/Tending)

He had only taken his eyes off of him for a minute, at max, though that was usually all it took; Lance didn’t need more than a few seconds to find himself smack dab in the middle of trouble. Shiro had been finishing up with loading the groceries into the back of his SUV when he’d heard escalating voices a little further down the parking lot near the cart return. The sun had nearly set, the darkening sky giving way to pockets of shadow in the interim before the light poles cut on, and he had to scan the lot twice before he realized where Lance was. With a heavy, defeated, sigh, Shiro slammed the hatch closed and prayed the ice cream wouldn’t melt in the heat as he wove his way through the rows of parked cars in his search for Lance.

“This is none of your business.”

“Yeah, this is between us and him.”

“You won’t be so lucky with the next one!”

After skirting a sedan that was parked at an angle to conceal the return, Shiro came up behind a group of three ragged young men who were facing his charge. Lance stood with his shoulders back and his chin up, creating a barrier between the men in front of him and the frightened looking youth behind him. His eyes, normally a vibrant, playful, ocean of blue, had sharpened and, despite his lean frame, his aura was ten feet tall and bulletproof. Shiro felt his hands clench into fists at his side when he noticed the jagged cut just below Lance’s left eye and the blood that lazily wept from the wound to trek down his cheek and smear across bronze skin.

“And I won’t tell you again to get lost,” Lance asserted, eyeing the lead thug who brandished a broken wine bottle, “you’ll need more than that to get through me.”

“Oh, you a tough guy huh?”

“No, but I am.”

The man in the middle turned on his heels at the sound of Shiro’s deep voice from behind him, instinctively raising his arm to swing the makeshift weapon towards him. He caught the man’s wrist with one hand and his shoulder with the other, swiftly torqueing the joint and forcing him to his knees as he cried out in pain. The bottle fell from his grasp and bounced off of the asphalt, rolling down the gentle slope of the lot to disappear beneath the undercarriage of one of the parked vehicles.

“If I see you bothering anyone again, I’ll break it. Do you understand?”

For good measure, Shiro exerted a little more force and felt the seize of the man’s muscles beneath his touch. Pale, bloodshot, green eyes squinted up at him from beneath the mop of stringy blonde hair as the man nodded fervently.

“Yeah, fine, whatever! Just let-ah-let go!”

“Don’t show your face here again,” he commanded when he released his hold, aiming a look at the other two men, “and that goes for you both as well. If I see you again, I won’t be so gentle. Go.”

There was a split second of hesitation before the man on the ground scrambled to his feet cradling his wrist against his chest, gaze bouncing from Lance to Shiro before he took off towards the road and his lapdogs followed obediently after him. Shiro kept his eyes on them until they had crossed and turned off out of his line of sight. When he turned back to Lance, he watched his body relax and the intimidating scowl that he’d donned pulled up into the little smirk that he was so used to. Before Shiro could utter a word, Lance turned to the kid behind him.

“See, I told you that everything would be okay. You should go ahead and get home before it gets too dark, I’m sure your parents will send a search party if you’re out much longer.”

The boy couldn’t have been more than sixteen with his baby face and sparse sprinkling of facial hair and when Lance spoke to him, he visibly deflated.

“Thank you so much, I don’t know how to-“

“No, don’t worry about it. Just get home safely and try not to go out on your own if you can help it. This city isn’t friendly when it starts getting dark.”

“Tell me about it,” the kid chuckled wryly, readjusting his backpack, “thank you-“

The boy turned a grateful smile to Shiro.

“-thank you both.”

Lance waved him off and stood still, watchful eye on him until he was satisfied that he was safe.

“You sure took your sweet time getting over here.”

“Car. Now.”

“C’mon, Shir-“

“ _Now_.”

Lance huffed out a breath but obeyed nonetheless, taking the lead and making his way back to SUV. They were both quiet as they slid into their respective seats and, once both the doors were closed, Shiro shifted his body in the driver’s seat and turned towards Lance.

“That was stupid.”

Lance gave him a long side glance before he spoke.

“That was necessary. I heard some noises and went to investigate-“

“-which you know better than to do.”

Shrugging a shoulder, Lance continued, “and I saw those guys ganging up on him. You saw them, they were looking to get some cash off of him so they could score some dope. I couldn’t let them hurt him, he was just a kid.”

“So instead of calling for help you just, what, figure you’ll take care of three of them by yourself?”

“Something like that.”

_Moron._

“And look what it got you,” he frowned, reaching into the center console to grab a napkin and one of his half empty bottles of water.

As he wet the napkin and reached out to dab at the blood coloring his cheek, Lance smirked.

“Yeah, good thing he was as high as a kite or his aim might have taken out my eye.”

Shiro didn’t say anything while he finished cleaning the blood from his face, trying to clamp down on his irritation.

“You are such an _idiot_ ,” he said finally after he finished, “you could have gotten yourself seriously hurt. I could have gone with you if you would have said something instead of running off by yourself like you always do. I could-“

“Takashi.”

The words died on his tongue at the sound of his name uttered in _that_ voice, the voice he reserved for when the two of them were safely hidden away together. Despite the heat, he felt a shiver skitter along his spine at the way Lance’s lips formed a small smile that met his eyes; they were soft now, vivid and warm, framed by long, black, lashes.

“No,” Shiro said, shaking his head though he knew he was already gone, “I’m not done being upset with you.”

“How’s that working out for you?”

He hated it, how he could diffuse his irritation with a smile and a single word; it was something he hated to love.

“I don’t get paid enough for the amount of trouble that you get yourself into,” Shiro muttered after a few seconds, leaning his head against the rest of his seat.

“My presence isn’t payment enough?”

Lance winked and beamed him a wide grin that had one forming on his own lips in return. It was just too damn hard to be angry with him.

“You’re cute but I don’t know if you’re that cute,” he teased with a shrug.

Lance’s hand flew to his chest in a gesture of mock shock.

“My delicate ego! However shall I recover?!”

Rolling his eyes, Shiro reached across the small space to slide his hand behind Lance’s throat. Cupping the back of his neck, he tugged him forward and met his lips just above the center console. His skin was warm and he tasted like honeysuckle, his lips parting beneath his gentle insistence. Lance leaned into him, raising a hand to softly graze his jaw with long, slender, digits. Shiro swallowed his sigh of pleasure and his chest constricted at how easily, how fully, Lance gave himself over to him. If he allowed himself, he could get drunk on him, intoxicated by him. It wasn’t long enough, it never was, but Shiro forced himself to pull away. A small whine left Lance’s throat and his fingers bunched in Shiro’s t-shirt. With a chuckle, Shiro leaned his forehead against Lance’s, the tips of their noses touching.

“Please try to be smart when you find yourself in situations like this, Lance,” he murmured quietly, gently stroking the back of his neck, “I need you in one piece.”

“I couldn’t just stand by and let it happen, you know me better than that.”

“Mmhmm, but maybe you could let those us who are _trained_ take up the role of white knight?”

“I couldn’t wait for you; they might have hurt him.”

“Just like they might have hurt you. Lance, would you just trust me? You know I’m here to keep you safe.”

“I trust you more than I trust anyone else, Takashi, and you know that.”

“Then won’t you let me look out for you? Please? I don’t want to see you get hurt, it breaks my heart,” he said, leaning back when Lance’s gaze fell, “look at me.”

Lance took a deep breath before he raised his gaze.

“I mean it; I can’t stand it. Promise me that you’ll let me do my job.”

“Your job-”

Shiro cut him off.

“My job as the man who _loves you_ ,” he said, punctuating his words with a light squeeze at the back of his neck, “your safety is first priority for me and it’s not just because I was hired to watch after you. You know that, don’t you?”

There was a moment of silence before Lance answered.

“Yeah, I know. I’ll… I’ll do my best, okay?”

“That’ll do,” Shiro smiled, letting his hand fall away and turning back to the steering wheel, “now let’s get out of here.”

* * *

 

“It looks like the ice cream melted a little,” Lance pouted, stabbing at the confection with his spoon while Shiro unlaced his boots.

“It wouldn’t have if someone hadn’t been busy playing vigilante.”

Lance rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help the smile. It still felt new to him, the feeling of domestic bliss that he was filled with when the two of them were together sharing a space. When his father had decided to run for public office, he’d wanted to see to it that all of his family was safely cared for and, since Lance lived alone, he’d decided that he would take it upon himself to hire a personal bodyguard for him. Ever since he was young, Lance had always been something of a magnet for trouble and his father hadn’t been willing to take any chances.

At first he had been upset, irritated by the fact that he’d had someone assigned to babysit him twenty-four-seven, and those feelings had only increased when he’d met Takashi Shirogane for the first time. Tall and broad of chest with an incredible physique and a ruggedly handsome appearance, Shiro had completely skewed his life from the moment that he’d walked into it. Lance had done his damnedest to undermine him, to try to outwit him, to skirt him. He’d figured that if he could irritate him enough, he’d leave of his own volition and Lance would be free to live his life his own way again.

He’d been in for a rude awakening, however, when Shiro met him every morning with a smile and didn’t seem the least bit perturbed. Of course he’d found out later that Shiro had wanted to strangle him practically every minute of every day, but he’d been none the wiser at the time. Eventually he’d given in and decided to ignore his presence completely, but that had been hard to do when there was an unspoken attraction that had lingered between them, crackling in the air and thickening the atmosphere. They had both pretended that it didn’t exist, but the more time that they spent together, the less possible it was to ignore.

Slowly, they allowed themselves to become more than mere acquaintances. Months went by and what had once been meaningless small talk became genuine warmth and deep conversations that, on more than one occasion, lasted throughout the entire night. He learned that Shiro sang Sinatra in the shower and that his favorite fruit was kiwi. He had told him about his love of cheesy old action films and that he’d gone through an embarrassing boy band phase in the nineties. They had shared bits of themselves with one another and, by the seventh month, Lance had fallen hard.

“Hey, Takashi?”

Shiro looked over at him, that beautiful, private, smile curving his lips as he stood and made for him. Goosebumps pricked at his skin as Shiro reached out a hand as he walked by him, fingers skimming along his hips as he came up behind him and pressed his chest to his back. It felt _right_ the way that their bodies fit together.

“Yes?”

“Do you remember our first kiss?”

Shiro hummed, arms coming around him to bring him into a warm embrace, “of course I do. You had demanded that we go to the beach and you wore the lowest pair of trunks I’d ever seen. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to drown you or kiss you and drag you back home.”

“It was a calculated risk,” Lance snickered, biting his lip at the memory.

“And we talked about how you despise grape snow cones even though you love grapes.”

“It tastes like cough syrup.”

“I remember,” Shiro chuckled, “and I also remember how you tripped over the remnants of some kid’s sandcastle and grabbed me on the way down.”

“If I was going, I wasn’t going alone!”

Shiro’s warm breath fanned over his ear and the side of his throat as he dipped his head, pressing a kiss just above his ear.

“We were laying on the beach and you had a hold of my shirt. I was practically laying on top of you. I went to move-“

“-and I pulled you closer-“

“-and I kissed you,” Shiro said, “in front of a beach full of people.”

“It was perfect,” Lance sighed, leaning his head back and towards the left so that he could look up at where Shiro was smiling down at him, “it really was.”

“So are you,” he said quietly, dropping another kiss at his temple.

“No regrets?”

Lance couldn’t help the surprised squeal that left his lips when Shiro unclasped his hands from around him and then turned him, forcing his back against the lip of the counter top so that he could face him.

“Not one single regret, Lance.”

“Me either,” Lance whispered, looking up at him, “not one.”

“I love you.”

It was such a simple statement but it felt like it set his soul ablaze, his heart pattering in an unsteady staccato each time that Shiro spoke it. It felt like he was walking in a dream and every day he feared that it would be the day that he woke up.

“I love you too,” he sniffled, tossing his arms around his neck and pulling him in close.

Shiro’s arms settled tightly around him, holding him close to his chest. The ice cream on the counter sat, long forgotten, as they soaked in the affection, the overwhelming emotion, present in the circle of their arms. It was such a strange turn of events, truly, but in the end he had been truly blessed to have found someone so incredibly caring and kind. For the first time in his life, Lance willingly gave away his heart for he knew that Takashi Shirogane would treat it with love and guard it with his life.


End file.
